The One Where Phoebe Runs Away
by Animalover48
Summary: After being bullied and fired from her work, and cheated on by Mike, Phoebe decides to run away feeling she has nobody now. Until a certain someone, who has been in love with Phoebe, finds her and reassures her that she will always have him.


**So, I thought I would take a break from my other fanfiction and write a one-shot. I also ship Joey with Phoebe, they have a great chemistry. No offense to any Phoebe and Mike shippers but I didn't like them together. Just me though! Anyway, enjoy my one-shot! :)**

 **Disclaimer: I only own my OCs.**

Phoebe is sitting on the couch of her living room. Tears well up in her eyes and she lets them stream down her face. It's like everything in her life has just fallen apart. She just couldn't believe all this happened! What did she ever do to deserve this?! She always thought that she was the sweetest and most caring person ever! Guess she was wrong! No one can ever love her! She's just stupid, weird, and an ugly woman! How can anyone love her! She stopped feeling like this after she got together with Mike. He kept telling her how amazing and beautiful she is and how he would die for her. That made her feel special. She continues to sob uncontrollably into her pillow as she flashes back to when this whole thing started.

* * *

 _Phoebe entered into the massage parlor with her usually happy grin. Today had been a pretty great day, she was now engaged to her amazing boyfriend and now fiancé, Mike, all her friends have agreed to attend the wedding although Joey didn't seem too happy about it. Oh well, he was probably just tired that day. She put her things down in her room and a few of her co-workers enter._

" _Hey Nancy! Hey Stacy! Phoebe greets._

" _Hey." They both greet together._

 _They look down at her hand and notice the engagement ring._

" _Where'd did you get the ring?" Nancy asked._

" _Oh, it's an engagement ring. I just got engaged to my boyfriend and now fiance Mike." Phoebe answered as she holds her hand up with the ring on. She has a huge smile on her face._

" _You got engaged?!" Stacy replied and she and Nancy share a laugh._

 _Phoebe's smile fades away._

" _Yeah, what's so funny?"_

" _Come on! Do you think we'd actually believe that you're engaged!" Stacy said._

" _But it's true! I am!"_

" _Even if you were, it was probably just out of pity and sympathy!" Nancy commented as she and Stacy laughed again._

 _Phoebe had a shocked and sad expression on her face._

" _No! Mike loves me! And he really cares about me!"_

" _Yeah right! No, he doesn't! No one can ever love you Phoebe! You're stupid, weird, ugly, and most of all, annoying!" Nancy added._

 _Phoebe couldn't help but let a few tears stream down her face._

" _Just leave! I don't need this right now!" She yelled at them._

" _Oh, we actually came to tell you that you have to leave." Nancy announced_

" _What?!" Phoebe's eyes were wide._

" _Yeah our boss just fired you and wanted us to deliver the news to you. She feels you aren't good at this job anymore." Stacy added._

" _Whatever! This job is stupid anyway." Phoebe said as she grabbed her bag and stormed out._

 _As she walked back to her apartment, she couldn't help but let a few tears drop of her eyes. She started to think about the words that were just said. Is it actually true what they said? Does Mike really not love her? No! She can't think like that. Mike loves her._

 _As she reached her apartment that she shared with Mike, she notices his things lying around. Guess Mike must've came home early. She notices that their bedroom door is closed. She curiously walked over and turned the door open. But only to find the one thing that couldn't make her feel any more upset than she already was._

" _Mike?!" Phoebe yelled._

 _Mike was in bed, half naked, with another woman with long straight blonde hair and blue eyes, she also was half naked and has a super skinny body._

" _Phoebe!" Mike's eyes were wide._

" _How could you!" Phoebe covered her mouth and more tears came down._

" _Phoebe, I'm sorry. I was going to tell you, but I was afraid with how you would react." Mike explained as he got out of the bed and puts his pants and shirt back on._

" _OH, SO YOU JUST THOUGHT IT WAS OKAY TO GO AND SLEEP WITH ANOTHER WOMAN BEHIND MY BACK! I THOUGHT YOU LOVED ME!"_

" _I did, but then I met Victoria and we just automatically clicked. Look Phoebe, you're a nice girl and all, but Victoria is just so beautiful. I'm just going to pack up my things be on my way. Come on Vic."_

" _Wait." Phoebe said as she yanked the ring off her finger and threw at Mike's forehead. He picked it up and went to pack his things, then left with Victoria._

 _Phoebe sat on the couch and sobbed._

* * *

Back to the present, Phoebe couldn't believe all this happened to her. I guess Nancy and Stacy are right, Mike never loved her.

She feels at this point, she can't talk to her friends. She's too embarrassed about this, plus they all have someone in their lives. Ross and Rachel have each other, Monica and Chandler have each other, and Joey has all those women who are crazy about him.

Ugh! She bangs her fist on the coffee table. Why can't someone love her for who she is?! Is she really that bad to love? Maybe she isn't meant to be with anyone. What's the point in her staying in this apartment anymore? She won't be able to afford it anyway.

She gets up from the couch and starts to pack her things, gives the apartment one last look, and leaves.

* * *

Two weeks later

Rachel, Ross, Monica, Chandler, and Joey are all sitting at their usual spots at Central Perk. They've all been worried sick about Phoebe. All of them have been calling her nonstop and even went to her place but she's never there.

Joey is the most worried out of all of them. Ever since Phoebe's mysterious disappearance, he hasn't gotten a wink of sleep. He hasn't told anyone this, but he's been in love with Phoebe ever since he kissed her the first time when she pretended to be her twin sister Ursula. It was the best kiss he's ever had, he never felt like that with any other girl he's been with.

He always sort of regretted introducing Phoebe to Mike. He didn't think they were going to last. Even though he's happy for Phoebe, he's also jealous.

"Where do you guys think she might be? It's not like Phoebe to just disappear like this." Monica asks very worried.

"I figured maybe she and Mike took a trip or something." Ross mentions as he takes a sip of his coffee.

"Yeah, but if that was the case, she would've told us." Rachel comments.

"Do you guys think it's time that we report this to the police?" Chandler questions.

"Maybe we should." Joey agrees.

"But what if she really did go somewhere with Mike? I don't know if filing a police report is necessary." Ross says.

"Ross, she's been missing for two weeks now! We don't even know for sure if she's with Mike! She's our friend, and we have to make sure she's safe!" Joey raises his voice.

"Alright, we'll give her one more night and if she doesn't return, then we'll file a police report." Ross suggests.

"That sounds like a good idea." Chandler agrees and everyone else expect Joey nods their heads in agreement.

Joey sits back and stares at the ceiling. He secretly hopes that Phoebe is somewhere safe and sound.

* * *

Later that night, Joey is lying in his bed just staring at his clock, it's 2:30 a.m. He can't get Phoebe out of his mind. Not knowing her whereabouts is driving him crazy. Where could she be? Is she safe? Did Mike do something to her? All these thoughts are running through his head.

That's it! He isn't going to sit here and try to sleep while the love of his life is out there somewhere. He gets out of his bed and bundles up since he knows how freezing it is outside. He grabs a flashlight and large butcher knife.

He looks all over central park but no sight of her. He takes a taxi to Time Square but still no sight of her. Ugh! Where could she be? He checked every single part of central park and Time Square. Then it hit him! There is only one place he hasn't checked. It's one the most dangerous areas in New York. He waves his hand.

"Taxi!" He calls.

The taxi pulls up next to him.

"Garment District please."

The taxi drives all the way to Garment District. When he gets there, he pays the driver. Him and the gang have always been terrified to come to this area, but he doesn't care right now. He's way too desperate to find Phoebe. He gets out his butcher knife and flashlight and starts looking around.

"Phoebe!" He calls.

"Pheebs!"

"Where are you?"

He continues to call her name until he comes across a dark ally and notices a pair of legs lying on the ground. He can easily tell that their female legs. He slowly walks into the ally, shining his flashlight on the woman's body. However, as soon as he gets to the face, he easily recognizes the woman.

"Pheebs?" He says.

Phoebe groans and flickers her eyes open.

"Joey?" She says as she rubs her eyes and sits up.

Joey lets out a relief sigh and pulls Phoebe into a hug.

"Pheebs, what are you doing here? It's freezing." Joey asks as he un-hugs her.

"Trying to sleep, until you found me."

"Come on, let's go back to my place." Joey starts gathering her things.

"No, I want to stay here. You can't just come here and force me to come home with you."

"Phoebe, first its dangerous out here, second, its freezing. You're going to get sick."

"Apparently, you forgot that I've lived on the streets before. I know how to take care of myself."

"Still, it isn't safe out here. Just come back to my place with me. Please." Joey gives her the puppy face.

"Why should I?"

"Because not just me, but everyone else is worried sick about you."

"Yeah right."

"It's true, and whether you want to or not, you're coming back to my place with me. I'm not taking no for an answer."

"You can't make me. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to get some sleep." Phoebe lays back down covering herself with an old raggy blanket.

Realizing that he isn't getting anywhere with just talking to her, he knows there's only way to get her to come with him. He grabs her guitar and stands up. Phoebe notices this and also stands up.

"Hey, what are you doing? Give that back!" She tries to reach for it but Joey yanks it away from her.

"Only if you come back with me."

"Ugh! Fine!" Phoebe gather her things and Joey takes a hold of her pulls her away from the dark ally.

They take a taxi back to his place. As soon as they walk into his apartment, Joey places the guitar by the chair and unbundles himself.

"Okay, do you want to tell me why you disappeared into an ally and not tell anyone?" Joey asks.

"It's a long story. Can't it wait until tomorrow? I'm really tired!" Phoebe complains as she heads over to her the couch.

"Fine, you can crash in Chandler's old bedroom." Joey says as he grabs a blanket and pillow from the closet and sets it on the bed. Phoebe takes off her shoes and climbs into the nice, comfy, and warm bed. She drifts off to sleep within seconds.

Joey couldn't help but smile because of how beautiful she looks when she sleeps. At the same time, he's extremely curious to know why she disappeared like that. I guess he just has to wait until tomorrow to find out. He gives her a quick kiss on the forehead and quietly walks out.

* * *

The next morning, Joey wakes up and finds Phoebe lying on the couch while staring at the ceiling.

"Morning, Pheebs." Joey greets.

"Morning." She greets back in a depressed tone.

"You hungry? I can make some scrambled eggs if you want."

"No thank you, I think I'm just going to go. Thanks for letting me stay here." Phoebe gets up from the couch and is about to grab her stuff when Joey takes her arm.

"You're not going anywhere. You still need to tell me why you ran away like that." Joey says.

"But it's a really long story."

"It's okay, I've got time." They both sit on the couch.

"Okay. I went to work and these two girls, Nancy and Stacy were being rude to me. I told them about my engagement to Mike and they started saying how he doesn't really love me and that he only proposed to me out of sympathy. They then told me that my boss fired me because I'm not doing a good job." Tears start to well up in Phoebe's eyes.

"Oh, Pheebs, I'm so sorry. Those girls don't know what they're talking about. And you don't need that stupid job anyway. You're better off doing something way better than that." Joey puts his arm around her and she rest her head on his shoulder.

"Thanks, but that's not the worst part. After I left, I went home and saw Mike's stuff. I figured, he must've came home early. I saw the bedroom door is closed so I walked in quietly and found him in bed with another woman." Phoebe begins to sob again.

Joey's eyes are wide and anger boils up inside. How can Mike do that to her! She's the most beautiful, sweet, and caring woman he's ever known. He so badly wants to go hunt him down and beat the crap out of him! Nobody messes with his girl because when they mess with her, they mess with him!

"Aww Pheebs, I'm so sorry. You know what, Mike's a jerk. He doesn't deserve you. You deserve someone who truly cares about you." Joey pulls Phoebe into a hug.

"I just wish, he would've at least ended with me before he hooked up with that woman." Phoebe rests her head on his shoulder.

"He's a jerk. But why didn't you just tell us? Why did you feel the need to run away?"

"Because I was embarrassed. Plus, everyone has someone in their lives, and I have nobody now. Ross and Rachel have each other. Monica and Chandler have each other. You have all those women who are dying to be with you. I have nobody now."

"Phoebe, that's not true at all. You'll always have me no matter what and just because Ross and Rachel are together, doesn't mean you don't have them. Same with Monica and Chandler. You don't have to feel embarrassed about anything. We're all here for you." Joey kisses her head.

For the first time in two weeks, Phoebe finally gives a small smile. It makes her feel a little better knowing she still has someone that truly still cares about her.

"I guess I just didn't want to face anyone after that incident. It really was just too embarrassing."

"You should never have to feel embarrassed around us, especially me. I'll always be here for you."

"Thanks, but… Phoebe lifts her head up and stares at the floor.

"It just isn't fair! Why is it that everyone I get close to leaves? My mom did! My dad did! My step-dad did! My sister hates me! Now Mike's gone!" Tears stream down her face again.

"Aww Pheebs! I'm still here, and I'm not going anywhere." Joey pulls her into another hug.

"But eventually you will. You're going to find your true love soon and then you'll leave to go be with her."

'I'm looking at my true love right now' Joey thought.

"Nobody loves me!" Phoebe says as she wipes the tears.

"That's not true." He says.

"Yes, it is! Nobody loves me! Nancy and Stacy were right. I am just an ugly, annoying, weird, and stupid girl. I don't deserve to be loved. Nobody loves me anyways!"

"The gang loves you… a very hesitant Joey comes out "I love you." Phoebe looks up at him with wide eyes.

"What?" Joey kisses her cheek.

"You heard me. I love you."

"Since when?"

"Since we first kissed when you pretended to me your sister."

"Really? For that long? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I was afraid of being rejected. Plus, I thought you only saw me as a friend. Do you?" Phoebe takes a deep breath.

"To be honest, I did like you too. But I wasn't sure how you felt about me. After you set me up with Mike, I thought, okay he only sees me as a friend."

"Well you were wrong. I wanted to be with you so badly. I honestly didn't think your relationship with Mike would last. I was pretty heartbroken when you announced your engagement but at the same time, I was happy for you."

"Well the engagement is over. I'm single now."

"So, are you saying you want to date me?"

"I don't know, you're not going to leave me like Mike did, are you?"

Instead of answering, he places his lips on hers. Her lips feel so soft and he feels butterflies in his tummy. This is best kiss he's ever had! It feels like fireworks are going on in the sky. The kiss only lasts for a few seconds but it feels like eternity. Finally, they break apart and stay silent for a few minutes.

"Wow." Phoebe breaks the silence.

"What?" Joey smiles.

"That was the best kiss I ever had!" Phoebe finally has a big smile on her face.

"Really?" Joey grins.

"Yes! I want be your girlfriend Joey! I really do!"

"And I really want be your boyfriend!"

"So, its official! We're boyfriend and girlfriend!" Phoebe says and she and Joey share a hug and press their lips again.

They are both so happy that they found each other. They are lobsters.

 **Hope you like it! Please Review! :)**


End file.
